Frequently Asked Questions
Academic societies / associations
Ordering
Q. How do I check the status of an order?
A. To check the status of an order please email accounts@vernonpress.com
Q. How do I place an order?
A. You can order directly from our website (by browsing through our titles) or from online bookstores, including Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Wordery. Our books are also available from major academic wholesalers such as YBP Library Services, EBSCO e-books, ProQuest, Brodart, Nielsen and Ingram. For a reseller closer to you see our ordering page. For bulk orders please contact accounts@vernonpress.com to set up a trade account.
Q: What are your shipping rates and delivery times for orders via your website?
A. See here for shipping rates and here for approximate delivery times. We normally post tracked parcels with UPS/DHL (or equivalent) and charge tracked shipping at cost.
Q. What types of payment do you accept?
A. Our website accepts payment for all major credit cards and PayPal. Bulk orders need to be paid either through an ACH bank transfer (USA) or SEPA (European Union).
Q. How and where can I purchase your ebooks?
A. We do not offer our ebooks for sale via our website. EBSCO, ProQuest Ebook Central and Google Books are the main providers of our ebooks. You should also be able to find ebook editions of our books on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other major retailers by searching for the title's ebook ISBN.
Q. Do you work with international resellers?
A. You can order our books internationally through one of our international resellers.
Q. How do you handle returns?
A. Please see our website section on returns.
Q. Is your website safe?
A. Our website uses 256bit SSL encryption to keep your information safe. We use an external payments processor (2checkout.com) and PayPal to handle all credit card transactions. We do not store information about your credit card on our servers.
Q. Will you sell my email or personal information to others?
A. Your email and personal information will never be sold, rented or shared with others.
Authors
Q. Where can I find information on how to submit a proposal?
A. Please visit our Resources for Authors page or download proposal preparation instructions as a PDF here.
Q. How should I format my manuscript?
A. Please download our formatting guidelines here.
Q. How should I reference the work of others / which referencing system should I use?
A. We prefer either the Chicago or Harvard referencing systems but are happy to accept the referencing system of your choice provided it is used faithfully and consistently throughout the text. Please ensure your text complies with our formatting guidelines found here.
Q. I have an idea for a writing project I would like to discuss with you first before writing a full proposal. Would it be possible to talk about it? Can you guide me through the preparation of a proposal?
A. We would be pleased to talk to you about your idea and guide you through the preparation of a proposal. Please send a quick query to submissions@vernonpress.com, mentioning the topic of your possible proposal and leaving your phone number or contact directly one of our Commissioning Editors: Ellisa Anslow (ellisa.anslow@vernonpress.com) or Victoria Echegaray (victoria.echegaray@vernonpress.com).
Q. Do you publish poems or fiction? What about autobiography/novels/self-help/children's books?
A. No, we don't publish any of these.
Q. We have recently returned from a conference we organized on.... Can you publish the proceedings?
A. If it is in one of the areas we publish, a good case can be made for publication and one or more suitable editors can take charge of collecting a selection of contributed papers under a commom theme, we may be interested. It is important to note that we would also expect all chapters to undergo peer review.
Q. Do all authors have to sign a contract?
A. Yes. You may either all sign the same document or each author can provide us with separately filled and signed contract.
Q. Will you charge me for publishing my book? Will I be required to buy copies of my book?
A. We never charge authors for publishing. This reflects our confidence in accepting only high quality works for which we expect there will be a market. It also serves to protect the independence of our commissioning decisions and safeguard our mission as a publisher of works of high academic standard. We don't require authors to buy copies of their books, though they are welcome to do so at a 40% discount off list price.
Q. What role does peer-review play in the publication process?
A. All our books are peer-reviewed by suitably qualified experts and until peer review concludes successfully publication cannot be guaranteed. Peer review helps us select only works of a high academic standard and ensures that your book sits alongside other high quality publications. It also helps you receive constructive feedback so that you may improve your work. Upon submission, the relevant editor will send out the manuscript for peer review and may also request additional changes before considering the manuscript acceptable for publication. We aim for as quick a turnaround as possible. We ask reviewers to provide us with a short report within two months. Peer review may however take longer. It is important to recall that reviewers provide an invaluable service and are doing so voluntarily. Once the reviewer(s) produce their report, we share it with you and ask you to implement suggested changes (if any) or offer a rebuttal. While we are happy to offer constructive guidance during the revision process, we expect you to produce a revised version of your manuscript and submit it in its entirety when ready. The reviewers will then advise us if the revised manuscript is acceptable.
Q. How do I know that peer-review suggestions will be truly helpful? Revisions are hard work!
A. Peer review is a function of immense importance in the advancement of knowledge. It is a crucial test of methodological rigor and scientific validity. Constructive comments raise standards in all published work and improve its relevance to the community of scholars it addresses. Admittedly, peer review, as practiced in many places today is not without problems. Increasing demand on academics’ time and performance assessment based on narrow metrics, such as publication and citation counts, crucially subtract from the motivation of reviewers. As a result, it is increasingly hard to find the right person to do a review. Reviewers may not always avail the time and effort required to appreciate truly novel ideas or weed out fallacies.
We enlist experts from our community of reviewers (you can become a member too if you are an expert in an area we publish, see here for details) who are both qualified and sufficiently motivated to offer high quality reviews promptly. Reviewers are instructed to evaluate the book in terms of originality, rigor and likely impact and to provide constructive comments for its improvement. We guide reviewers to focus on substance and to be as helpful as possible. Altogether, this ensures that our peer reviews are thorough, constructive and respectful of your effort as an author. We find that our authors have a genuine appreciation for the quality of the reviews provided.
Q. What happens if reviewers do not recommend publication and you decide not to publish my book, even though we've signed a contract early on?
A. Offering a contract before peer review signals our confidence in your work and provides a measure of reassurance to encourage you to develop and finalize your manuscript (see more information here). Before offering a contract, we have a reasonable expectation that the manuscript will be publishable, even if it takes extensive revisions to bring it up to publishable standard. However, in the event that we have to outright reject the publication following peer review, we will cancel the contract to allow you to pursue alternative publication arrangements.
Q. Will my publication with Vernon Press count towards my department's/institution's research evaluation exercise? Do your books carry an impact factor?
A. Academic books do not carry impact factors. Unlike journal articles, there are no commonly accepted lists or criteria for bibliometric assessment of academic books. Depending on the country and your institution, a book publication may or may not formally count for research evaluation purposes. In most cases institutions make a distinction between peer reviewed and non-peer reviewed books. To make your case towards consideration, it may suffice if you tell your institution that your book was peer reviewed (with your permission, we will be glad to send them your book's reviewers reports and our internal deliberations if they contact us directly) and to point them to our publicly documented processes for selecting manuscripts. Different countries maintain their own lists of recognized publishers. At present Vernon Press is included in the list maintained by the Finnish Publication Forum (http://www.tsv.fi/julkaisufoorumi/kirjakustantajat.php), the Norwegian Centre for Research Data (https://dbh.nsd.uib.no/publiseringskanaler/KanalTreffliste.action?a=true&tv=true) and the Spanish National Research Council (http://ilia.cchs.csic.es/SPI/grafico9.html). We would be grateful if you could bring to our attention relevant lists from your country or institution for eventual inclusion.
Q. What does it mean to be an “academic” or “scholarly” publisher?
A. Academic book publishing is different from general or trade publishing; some would go as far as saying that they are effectively different industries, each with their distinct editorial norms, cost structures, marketing approaches and distribution networks. Unlike general interest books, academic books do not usually appeal to a wide audience and do not make for casual reading. They tend to be highly specialized and are in demand by researchers and scholars interested in a fairly specific domain of knowledge. We lack production and distribution arrangements general interest publishers have and vice versa. They also effectively screen titles on the basis of their sales potential, whereas we focus on scholarly relevance and rigor. As an academic book publisher we see that our books are peer reviewed, that they receive visibility in the right scholarly communities and are purchased by fellow scholars and university/college libraries, to be consulted, read and cited, in addition to possible general readership sales primarily from the cheaper paperback edition.
Q. Are your books easy to find for international readers? How do you market your books?
A. To enhance discoverability of our books we index our titles in a wide range of international book information and ordering platforms. We facilitate a global readership by charging a flat rate economy shipping for orders via our website. We market our titles extensively both individually and collectively. For more information on how we market our books see the section on Marketing on our Resources for Authors page.
Q. What can an author do to promote their book?
A. We offer a number of suggestions authors can follow. See our dedicated page here.
Q. I have self-published my book and believe that having a publisher would really give it a boost. Would you consider republishing it?
A. Unfortunately, like other academic publishers we cannot consider previously published manuscripts. This is out of respect to our readers who expect our books to represent original contributions to research and scholarship, to our publishing industry partners who may have already purchased earlier copies of it and because we cannot be certain of the extent to which market interest for your book (including interest for reviews, announcements and other promotion fatigue) has been exhausted by its prior publication.
Q. My book was originally published in a language other than English and I am now seeking an international publisher. Would you consider it?
A. We will be glad to hear from you with specifics about your proposal, provided you still hold the rights to an English edition of your book. We can also help with the submission of translation funding bids, however we are unable to contribute towards translation costs.
Q. Do you publish books in physics, biology or medicine?
A. We only publish books in the social sciences and humanities and specifically in disciplines in which we have in-house editorial expertise and/or advisory editors.
Q. Are you associated with any other company bearing the name "Vernon"?
A. Vernon Press is an imprint (registered "Doing Business As") of Vernon Art and Science Inc., which handles all trade matters in the Americas. We trade in Europe and the rest of the world under Vernon Art and Science S.L. We have no association (neither current nor past) with any other organization bearing the name "Vernon" and do not use (and have never used) any other aliases. Though some say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, we take it seriously and reserve our right to take action against any attempt to pass off as us or imply an association with us.
Q. Do you publish academic journals?
A. We do not publish academic journals and are not associated with any company that does.
Reviewers
Q. Where can I find your guidelines for reviewers?
A. Please see our guidelines for peer reviewers here.
Q. I am editing a book for Vernon Press. Can you help me identify reviewers?
A. Yes, we can help identify suitable referees from our growing community of reviewers. If you can share the topics, we can provide you the names, areas of expertise/list of publications and contact details of potential reviewers so you can liaise with them directly. If they’re suitably qualified, it is also good practice to ask the authors of other chapters to crry out reviews, as it can help promote coherence in edited volumes.
Q. How do I sign up as a reviewer?
A. Please see our Resources for Reviewers page for more information.
Production
Q. Do you publish books with many color images? or in fancy formats?
A. We only consider works which we expect will be economically viable to publish. A large number of images is not disqualifying by itself, but all art books must have a critical/reflective component that would make them interesting to the academic communities we serve (e.g. we don't publish catalogs). Once we have agreed to publish your work, there should be considerable flexibility in the number and kind of images (color or b&w) to be included. It is important to bear in mind that, as color costs more to produce, it will result in a higher list price. The majority of our books are in the industry standard 6x9 inch format, although we have printed some somewhat larger books (mainly art).
Q. What are your typical turnaround times?
A. The total turnaround time is difficult to foresee with certainty due to the time needed for peer review and the implementation of any revisions. Here are some indicative durations:
Peer review: 2 months
Revisions by Author: 2-3 months
Production: 7 weeks
Proof approval by Author: 4 weeks (max)
Final setup and printing: 2-3 weeks
Production may take longer for works with complex production requirements. The shortest possible total turnaround time (assuming peer reviewers produce their review in a matter of days, request no or very limited revisions, the manuscript is impeccably written and edited, and the author approves the digital proofs in a few days) would be around 4 months from full manuscript submission. A more typical total turnaround time is 6-8 months.
Marketing
Q. How do you market your books?
A. See the section on Marketing on our Resources for Authors page.
Q. How can I receive paper catalogs from Vernon Press?
A. Please send your paper catalog request along with your postal address to Javier Rodriguez (javier.rodriguez@vernonpress.com). To save on postage costs, unless your request is urgent, your catalog will be posted in our next mass-mailing cycle.
Q. Where can I find flyers for each of your books? How can I receive printed flyers?
A. Ready to print flyer PDFs are available under the section "Related Services" on each book's dedicated web page (browse or search here). To receive printed flyers please send your request along with your postal address to Javier Rodriguez (javier.rodriguez@vernonpress.com).
Q. I have recently published with you and would like to organize a book signing/launch event. Are you able to support this and, if so, how?
A. We can send you a number of copies at a special event discount as well as promotional material such as flyers and catalogs. However, to ensure these reach you on time for the event, please contact Javier Rodriguez (javier.rodriguez@vernonpress.com) at least six weeks in advance.
Q. Do you have control over Amazon (or other reseller) prices?
A. The prices we charge resellers of our books do not usually change. Amazon's retail prices vary frequently and are out of our control. They are most likely algorithmically determined and correspond to their marketing strategies.
Academic societies/associations
Q. I represent an academic society/association and we are holding a conference next month. Would you be able to provide some books for display and associated marketing material?
A. We are happy to provide marketing materials and a few copies of relevant titles to conferences where we expect they will be appreciated. Please contact Javier Rodriguez (javier.rodriguez@vernonpress.com) for details.
Q. Do you offer discounts to academic societies?
A. Yes, we may provide discounts as a part of a special partnership that would offer preferential publication arrangements and high discounts for society members in return for advertising space and other promotion possibilities. Please contact Javier Rodriguez (javier.rodriguez@vernonpress.com) for details.
Rights and permissions
Q. I have published a book or a chapter in an edited volume with Vernon Press. What is your policy on derivative journal articles? Can I post the text of my book in my university's internal repository?
A. We are generally flexible about reusability subject to terms and conditions (also mentioned in your contract). For more information see the section on Self Archiving in our dedicated Resources for Authors page.
Q. I would like to quote a passage / reuse an image from a Vernon Press book. The quotation will appear in another scholarly (peer reviewed) publication. How do I request permission?
A. It depends on who the copyright holder is. You can find out if copyright is held by Vernon Press or by the author in the title page of each of our books. If the author holds copyright you should contact them to ask for permission. If we hold copyright, we allow passages from Vernon Press books to be quoted, provided they do not exceed 500 words (collectively) and that a full and correct bibliographic reference is given. This applies only for quotations (or other copyrighted elements) reused in a scholarly (peer reviewed) publication. For images, please refer directly to the source of the image to find out who the copyright holder is. It may be that the copyright holder is neither the author nor Vernon Press in which case you would need to speak directly with the relevant contact.
Q. I would like to quote a passage / reuse an image from a Vernon Press book. The quotation will appear in a non-scholarly publication. How do I request permission?
A. It depends on who is the copyright holder. You can find out if copyright is held by Vernon Press or by the author in the title page of each of our books. If the author holds copyright you should contact them, asking for permission. If we hold copyright, then please contact us at permissions@vernonpress.com.
Q. Do you offer an Open Access option?
A. We offer an Open Access option for monographs and chapters of edited volumes subject to a fee, see here for more information. We offer the option of Open Access in view of the significant additional visibility this brings to your work. It is important to stress however that payment of an Open Access fee has no bearing on our decision to publish your work, on the rigour of peer review or on our promise to never charge for publication under a standard publishing contract.
Page last updated on August 8th 2023. All information correct at the time, but subject to change.
